Customer Reviews

Blow the Man Down: A Collection Of Sea Songs & Shanties

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I'd been looking for a collection of shanties for some time. I took a chance on this one and it paid off. A re-release from the 60's, the interpretations (by many shining stars of that English folk-performer generation) are true to the spirit of the tradition and, a bonus, the cd includes a couple authentic performances by former sailors. A highly recommended contemporary introduction to an ancient tradition.

What a great collection of the best chanteys, sung by the true giants: Louis Killen, Ewan McColl, Cyril Tawney, the Watersons and more! Includes rare recordings of some nearly fogotten gems, as well as little-known versions of well-known favorites. A must-have for any serious chantey lover.

Sea chanties may be the purist and richest form of work song extant today and there are a large number of CDs of performances of this very traditional kind of song. Four of the very best are:

`Blow the Man Down' by eleven different voices, one of which is a group, The Watersons.
`Blow Boys Blow' sung by Ewan MacColl & A. L. Lloyd
`Sailors, Ships, and Chanteys' by Louis Killen
`Blow the Winds in the Morning' choral interpretations directed by John Langstaff

The best thing about this selection is that in spite of the great similarity in the names of the albums, there is practically no overlap in selections. There is some difference in style among the four, as chanteys may be performed with a solo voice, a chorus, or alternating between a solo voice and chorus.

The last of these three styles is probably the most traditional, as it is closest in realization to how chanties were actually used, as a means of coordinating the efforts of a large number of men contributing their muscle power to a single task such as raising an anchor or raising or lowering a large sail boom.

The first of these four CDs is a mix of all styles. The second is primarily solos by the two principle artists. The third is a combination of solos and responsive singing, the chorus being supplied by a group playfully named `The Out-of-Shape Chanteymen' The fourth is largely choral interpretations.

As appropriate to what one would find on a wind powered ship, the instrumental accompanyment is typically no more than a banjo, guitar, mandoline, or concertina. It's interesting that the harmonica does not play a larger part in chanty accompaniments, but it strikes me that this would detract from the overriding importance of the voice in joining in with the chorus. Similarly, there is no hornpipe, let alone bagpipes heard on any of these recordings.

If I were to recommend any one of these albums, it would be the third, since Master Killen has the finest tenor voice among all the performers. It also strikes me that his selection of songs is just a bit more fun than the others. The CD with the most rustic performances is `Blow the Man Down' with a lot of really crusty solos by Killen, Ewan Maccoll, Cyril Tawney, The Waterssons, Sam Larner, Ian Campbell, Bob Davenport, Bob Roberts, Harry H. Corbett, Bob Hart, and A. L. Lloyd.

All these albums are satisfying to anyone with a yen for sea songs.

I didn't know that this was going to have such a powerful effect on me. You see, I used to be a coastie, and I served with a Chief boatswain's mate that sang old sea songs while we were on watch. He'd sit, tie knots, and he'd practice his boatswain's pipe. At the time I thought he was a fool. The dude was so old school; I thought he was nuts. I haven't walked the deck of a ship in over six years, and I was feeling nostalgic about the sea so I downloaded these songs. They ripped my guts out; I could hear old Chief Van Allen singing his songs and I wept. Took me right back like a time machine. These songs are pure magic.

pirate and sea shanty roots from the old school hard core folky dudes of the late 195o's/early1960's. This is not something I wanna listen to every day "in heavy rotation" as they say, but it a good resource.

If you want to know how sea chanties originally sounded on the decks and under them back in the 18th and 19th centuries, this is an album for you. It can be a time-consuming process to sort through the load of sea chanty albums out there that when you're trying to find the traditional sound. Therefore, if you like the sound of this album I also recommend the following albums, composed by various performers including some on this album: Shanties & Songs of the Sea; Round Cape Horn; Sailors' Songs & Sea Shanties. These albums have a great mix of emotion in them, from rip-roarin' drinking songs to inspirational working songs to melancholy tunes about ships that were swallowed up by the sea.

I had hoped this was not going to be yet another nauseating, sing in a strangled and nasal voice example of english folk songs.
Well so much for hope.
This album is a waste of space unless you happen to like folk music that sounds like a dirge and is sung in the approved "style".
what is particularly galling is that I served on arctic trawlers and I swear that the guys I worked with could sing better than this crowd and, at least the crew sounded like they were enjoying the singing.
Skip this.